Woodstock facts.

[Spudman***]

Here are a few interesting facts about the Woodstock festival and the performers.

Some of these are interesting:

--Cancelled appearances--

The Jeff Beck Group was scheduled to perform at Woodstock, but failed
to make an appearance because the band broke up the week before.
Iron Butterfly was stuck at an airport, and their manager demanded
helicopters and special arrangements just for them. They were wired
back and told, as impolitely as Western Union would allow, "****
off".

Joni Mitchell was slated to perform, but her agent informed her that
it was more important that she appear on "The Dick Cavett Show" on
Monday, with its national audience, rather than "sit around in a
field with 500 people" Ironically, David Crosby & Stephen Stills as
well as Jefferson Airplane (who all performed at the festival) also
made it to the Cavett show. It was believed to have something to do
with her breakdown at the Atlantic City Pop Festival two weeks before
where she exited the stage in the middle of her third song crying
because of the fans not listening to her sing. Though Mitchell was
not present, she wrote and recorded the song "Woodstock" that was
also a major hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

Canadian band Lighthouse was originally scheduled to play at
Woodstock, but in the end they decided not to, fearing that it would
be a bad scene. Later, several members of the group would say that
they regretted the decision.

--Refused invitations--
The promoters contacted John Lennon, requesting The Beatles to
perform. Lennon said that he couldn't get the Beatles, but offered to
play with his Plastic Ono Band. The promoters turned him down.

Procol Harum were invited to perform but reportedly declined due to
the festival happening at the end of a long tour, and because of the
impending birth of Robin Trower's child; The band elected to pass on
the festival to be back in England for the birth. The child arrived
two weeks late.

The Doors were considered as a potential performing band, but
cancelled at the last moment. Contrary to popular belief, this
occurrence was not related in some fashion to lead singer Jim
Morrison's arrest for indecent exposure while performing earlier that
year; the cancellation was most likely due to Morrison's known and
vocal distaste for performing in large outdoor venues. [12] There
also was a widely spread legend that Morrison, in a fit of paranoia,
was fearful that someone would take a shot at him while he was
onstage. Drummer John Densmore attended; in the film, he can be seen
on the side of the stage during Joe Cocker's set.

Led Zeppelin was asked to perform, their manager Peter Grant
stating: "We were asked to do Woodstock and Atlantic were very keen,
and so was our US promoter, Frank Barsalona. I said no because at
Woodstock we'd have just been another band on the bill." "Led
Zeppelin: The Concert Files", Lewis & Pallett, 1997, Omnibus Press,
ISBN 0.7119.5307.4

Jethro Tull refused to perform; there are varying accounts of the
reasons for this decision. One claim is that they thought it wouldn't
be a big deal[citation needed]; Ian Anderson is reported to have said
he "didn't want to spend [his] weekend in a field of unwashed
hippies". [13] Another theory proposes that the band felt the event
would be "too big a deal" and might kill their career before it
started. [14]

The Moody Blues declined to perform, because they were booked for
another event in Paris at the same time and decided to play there
instead of Woodstock, a decision they later regretted. They were
promoted as being a performer on the third day on early posters that
listed the site as Wallkill.

Tommy James and the Shondells declined an invitation. Lead singer
Tommy James stated later: "We could have just kicked ourselves. We
were in Hawaii, and my secretary called and said, 'Yeah, listen,
there's this pig farmer in upstate New York that wants you to play in
his field.' That's how it was put to me. So we passed, and we
realized what we'd missed a couple of days later."[15]

The Clarence White-era Byrds were given an opportunity to play, but
refused to do so but they did perform at the Atlantic City Pop
Festival held August 1,2 & 3, 1969, two weeks before Woodstock.
Paul Revere & The Raiders declined to perform.

Bob Dylan was in negotiations to play, but pulled out when his son
became ill. He also was unhappy about the number of hippies piling up
outside his house near the originally planned site. [16] He would go
on to perform at the Isle of Wight Festival two weeks later. At his
June 30, 2007 concert at Bethel Woods, the original site of the
Woodstock festival, Dylan joked (just before he performed 'All Along
the Watchtower)': "Great to be back here-- i remember being here,
playing at six in the morning, and it was pouring rain, too... a big
field of mud!" [17]

Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention Quote: "A lot of mud at
Woodstock. We were invited to play there, we turned it down." - FZ.
Citation: "Class of the 20th Century", U.S. network television
special in serial format, circa 1995.

Free were asked to perform and declined.

Spirit were asked to perform but declined and went on a promotional
tour.

[ZMAN]

Hey Spudman, a good friend of mine was actually THERE! Of course he can't remember 5 minutes of it. It was the 60s. Mind altering was a religion, not a recreation. He finally saw Jesus and is now one of the most pious non drinking non smoking people in the world and lives in a million dollar home. The drugged out 60s became the capitalist 70s and 80s. One thing about all this is that he is still alive. Something we all doubted would come to pass.

[Spudman***]

Too funny...and strange.

I had a few buddies that were excessive early in life and did a flip flop too but none of them ever made it to Woodstock. I doubt they even knew where it is. Heck, most of them thought if they ever left Montana they would fall off the earth.
I'm glad I paced myself.

Can you believe all the folks that passed up the gig?
I probably would have taken the gig myself. Why not? I played a few farms in my day...and barns and pastures and plenty of dumps.

[just strum]

A lot kicked themselves in the "A" after that weekend, just think what they thought after the movie was released. The movie is what catapulted some of those careers, at least in the early 70's. It would be interesting to see how records sales changed after the release of the movie. Groups like Santana, Ten Years After, Country Joe, Joe Cocker... had to take a nice jump in sales. Then you have CS&N, Joplin, Jimi...

Hell, even Sha Na Na must of got a nice boost because of that event.

[player***]

Excellent recap Spud.only thing left out was the fact Joni appeared on the handbill but Richie Valens actually opened the fest that evening.there is more but thinking back what you listed would suffice.still it was a great concert the likes of which we'll never see again.even though many have tried to emulate it.There was just One Woodstock Festival of Love

[Tone2TheBone]

Excellent recap Spud.only thing left out was the fact Joni appeared on the handbill but Richie Valens actually opened the fest that evening.....

......What??? LMAO....

[player***]

......What??? LMAO....

Nice catch there Tone my mistake Joan Baez was supposed to open it was really Richie Havens that did. Joni was on the mind recalling the version she did(by the time we get to). gotta love those senior moments
Friday's Performers-

Richie Havens

Country Joe MacDonald

The Incredible
String Band
Tim Hardin

Arlo Guthrie

Joan Baez
wonder if I can scan it and put it up without it falling apart?

[Iago]

there was also that other guy, Bert Sommers his name.. whatever happened to him...

Incredible number of people turned it down huh? I would have shoot myself afterwards.

Would be great to see early Zeppelin and Free at Woodstock

[Kazz]

I was barely a reality when we rolled around to woodstock...lmao I was born in September of 68.....my Mom wanted to go but she did not as she had a young child at home :-)

I have watched the concert video many times....actually have it burned to dvd somewhere. Some of that stuff is legendary.

[sunvalleylaw]

Yep, that is why I missed all of that. I was about 5, and my folks were in their 30s and into older music mostly. My music awareness probably started with the Monkees, and other Saturday morning stuff, like Scooby Doo, Brady Bunch (ok Fri night), Partidge Family, Jackson 5, the Osmonds, etc. The Beatles Yellow Sub stuff came into my awareness around that time. But, I did not know anything about Woodstock era and performing bands for years. After the kid stuff I just mentioned, I went into Elton John, and forward.

On topic, I enjoy now learning about these facts. I am still wading through the Rolling Stone issue focusing on the era, and love finding programs on Woodstock, and the Monterey Pop festival etc.

[Tone2TheBone]

Oh Richie HAVENS...your first post said Richie Valens!

[player***]

Oh Richie HAVENS...your first post said Richie Valens!

Yeah I know ain't getting old fun. guess what they say about the memory has some merit.when posted did not have the playbill handy..still trying to see if I can put it up.not that it is necessary. it does not include a lot.which have told has been rectified on the marker there. Re: Bert Sommers - can almost still hear his Jennifer. btw he was still making music after his stint with The Fabulous Newports in a celtic band in NYC until he passed

[street music]

Good information Spudman, I was still a young man at the time of Woodstock but would love to have seen it. I have watched the movie of it a few times but that couldn't have been anything like being there.